Bald Eagle in the Backyard

Bald Eagle in the Backyard

This is a huge bonus of living in Seattle: the urban and suburban wildlife includes a multitude of Bald Eagles. This morning, Hugh went into our friends’ garden to fill up their bird feeder — a chore we both kind of enjoy. A huge contingent of birds descends right when our boots leave the scene of the feeder.

As he walked into the garden, seed in hand, he saw this [very] big bird, perched on top of the utility pole outside the back fence. Not a seed eater. This juvenile Bald Eagle came into the neighborhood a few weeks ago, but this is the first time we’ve seen it up close.

The crows were not happy about the new turf intruder and made it clear. I snapped just a few frames with my E-3 before the eagle took off over Puget Sound, with a kite-tail of crows trailing behind.

It takes the juvenile Bald Eagle about five years to acquire full adult plumage. I’ve seen them in various stages of coloration here in the Northwest. On this young eagle, you can see tufts of white where the grownup feathers will eventually be.